Happy Birthday Isak Valtersen!
Kjære Isak, It's your 18th birthday today and I wish you the very fucking best that all the parallel universes in existence have to offer. I'm actually planning to take care of some of that myself later, you'll see when you wake up. I know that you're probably most excited about finally being allowed to drink beer, but I, personally, just want to spend this very special day with you. You're an adult now, which means that you have both all the rights and all the responsibilities that there are in life. But that's not new to you. You've been taking care of yourself for quite a while now and I know it hasn't always been easy. What I'm trying to say is, no matter how much I or anyone else might make fun of you for not knowing how to cook tea or for the mess that's supposed to be our bedroom, you're doing so incredibly great, and I couldn't be any more proud of you. Whatever kind of shit life throws at you, you go for it. You nail it. In this last year, you've dealt with a difficult family situation, you moved out from your parents', you've made friends and fallen in love and come out to the world. It seems almost impossible to me that all that hasn't made you bitter or broken, it's made you kind and wise and the best friend there is and the best boyfriend there ever will be and a damn biology genius. Life has been giving you lots of lemons, Isak, but you made lemonade of them and it's the best motherfucking lemonade in all the existing universes. I don't know any braver person than you. I can't possibly put into words how lucky I am to have found you. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me, a knight not in shining armour, but in jeans and a sweater, appearing in the schoolyard out of nowhere on a cold norwegian december night, cheeks red and breath heavy, come to save me when I thought I was lost for good. Sometimes I wonder whether you have the slightest idea what you did for me. What you're doing for me every day that we spend together. I love every second of every minute of it. I love watching you sleep in the mornings, when you look like a beautiful blonde angel in our bed. I love the moment when you wake up and the smile on your face when you see me watching you. I love the warmth of your body and your husky voice when you speak the first words in the morning. I love holding your hands. I love your little nose nuzzles that speak so much more than words when they come from you, as if you invented a secret language just for the two of us. I love it when you're wearing my hoodies that are slightly too large for you but keep your smell in them for me to dream about when I get to wear them again. I love the way you twist your lips and stick out your tongue when you're concentrating on studying. I love the sound of your laugh. I love your talks about science and religion and the world. I especially love them when you're drunk. I love who you are and what you do. I love the way you love me, unafraid of whatever obstacle we're facing. I love how you take life minute by minute when it gets hard instead of giving up. I love how you ended up teaching me how to let love heal myself. I love how you're the single most wonderful thing on earth and you don't even realize that, how you still blush everytime I tell you. I love you, Isak, with all that I am and all that I have and I will remind you of that, every day of our life. Remember when you told me I was the man of your life? Well, you're the man of my life, because it feels like I only started to actually live when I met you. You deserve the world and it's a shame I can only give you so little of it, but I promise to spend the rest of my life trying to make you the happiest I can. I hope you have a wonderful birthday and a wild night with the boys and girls on Friday. I hope you like my present. I also hope you like my other present that you're gonna get to enjoy as soon as you wake up, if you like. I hope the next year, life goes a little easier on you. I hope you become the sexiest nobel prize winner of all times. I hope I'll watch you take the prize with all our ten kids on my lap. I hope you know I'll love you until all eternity. I'm gonna stop here, trusting that I have at least 80 more years to tell you all the stuff I want to tell you. I actually have a cake to prepare. Happy birthday, Isak. An immeasurably large amount of everlasting love, Even
